Art Mash 6 and Anniversary Celebrations!

Gary / oil gray toned on canvas panel / 18x14

Gary, with bushels of gray and white hair, was our very poised and professional model in open studio this beautiful Sunday afternoon. He never waivered from his pose and resumed the exact same position after each break. Even so, when we started out, I once again had a bad case of the jitters. Taking a few deep breaths and plunging ahead, I found I could not fit his right hand on my canvas. From past experience, I knew that wiping off and trying again would likely leave him without a foot or with his head cut off, so I decided to press on. I am always amazed by the amount of color that my eyes see at these life sessions - I wish I could always paint from life. But, alas,as that is not possible, I can only hope that lessons learned here will translate into my studio paintings.

Its been a busy month as my husband and I decided to celebrate our anniversary for a full 4 weeks! Last week I had a chance to dress up as we went to the Nightingale Concert Hall to listen to the Reno Chamber Orchestra play an all Beethoven program. The music was powerful, majestic and quite emotional.  I was absolutely swept away by Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56.  This piece was an impassioned conversation between the violin, cello and piano and was completely unforgettable. We are so very lucky that Reno has this level of classical music.

Stephanie Sant'Ambrogio on violin, Ditri Atapine on cello, James Winn at piano and Theodore Kuchar conducting

Our next stop was to the Shriner's Circus at the Reno Events Center. It is a delightful, small town circus that benefits Shiner's Children's Hospitals.  It was apparent that all the animals in the eclectic menagerie trained by this red headed lady loved her immeasurably and equally apparent that she loved them. The entire circus was thoroughly enjoyable and the blue cotton candy the best I have ever had!!

On Wednesday, we are off to the east coast for a true vacation. We are headed to Washington DC and hope to see the cherry trees in bloom, explore the Smithsonian and National Gallery of Art and see as many iconic monuments as we can! See you when we get back!

Art Mash 3

Lauren / oil on linen panel / 18x14

This Sunday was the 3rd open studio Art Mash that I have attended and my jitters are finally calming down, thank goodness. I was so unhappy with last weeks effort that it took all my courage to post that photo on my blog. But, of course, I know that the development of an artist occurs only after putting paint on miles and miles of canvas. Some work will be better than others no doubt. This week, I am happier with my effort - especially the color in the models face. She had such beautiful skin. I am also happy that I did not try to be completely literal in my interpretation but allowed myself artistic freedom of thought and feeling as I painted her. I think that has to do with finally settling myself down and not caring about anything other than to take maximum advantage of the opportunity to paint her.

Art Mash at the NV Museum of Art

Tom from life session / oil on linen panel / 18 x 14

I really am surprised and just a little taken aback by my nervousness at the museum today. Having done weekly life drawing for the last several months, I realized its been a very long time since I painted the figure from life - in fact, I can't remember the last time. That is why I was so nervous. However, determined to make good on my New Year goal of painting from life as often as possible, I packed up my paints, a gray toned panel and my Jullian easel and set off for the museum. I had to wipe off my first attempt as I was trying to paint the full figure but could not fit it on the canvas. The second attempt was this 3/4 view. I was so nervous that my brush was shaking and I had to try and will my hand to be steadier. I finally settled down after the first hour or so. Tom was holding on to a thick wooden pole that I decided not to include, hence the position of his hands. Art Mash is an open studio 3 hour life session held on alternate Sundays at the museum school. The first Sunday of the month is a nude model and the third Sunday is a clothed or costumed model. I am determined to attend as often as possible. And hopefully my nervousness will abate over time!

The following 2 drawings were from the last session of the Reno Portrait Society in 2013. Elise had volumes and volumes of curly raven black hair. As you can see, I opted to just find the essence of her hair and not the color!

Elise / graphite on white paper / 24x18

Elise / graphite and white conte on toned tan paper / 11x9